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FIFA Interactive World Cup Sets Guinness World Record

The FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) is now officially the largest gaming tournament in the world, with 775,000 competitors taking part in the 2010 edition of the event played on EA Sports FIFA Soccer 10.

The FIWC received the designation in the latest version of the Guinness Book of Records and EA SPORTS president Peter Moore and current FIWC champion Nenad Stojkovic of Cleveland, Ohio, accepted the award.

“The 775,000 participants in the FIFA Interactive World Cup is a testament not only to the popularity of sports videogames but also to the incredible effort it takes to organize the biggest gaming tournament in the world,” said Gaz Deaves, Chief Editor of the Guinness World Records. “We are pleased to award this record and look forward to seeing it broken in 2011.”

The 2010 FIWC climaxed in Barcelona in May 2010 when Stojkovic became the first competitor from the United States to capture the crown.

This year’s edition of the FIFA Interactive World Cup now promises to be larger than ever and is expected to break its own record for the number of competitors. The tournament has a new format this year, with six online seasons making the event more accessible than ever. The world’s 24 best players will be determined through a series of online and offline qualifiers competing with FIFA Soccer 11. Those players will meet at the FIWC Grand Final to play for the title of FIFA Interactive Player of the Year, a $20,000 cash prize, and the money-can’t-buy experience of shaking hands with the world’s best players at the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala in Zurich.